Feed company De Heus keeps growing

Privately owned feed manufacturer De Heus, based in The Netherlands, is
taking over the family business of O. Bouman, also in The
Netherlands.

Through its strategy of continuous growth De Heus in the mean while is the
largest feed manufacturer in the Netherlands. Total volume adds up to 1.8
million tonnes and the company claims a 15% share of the national market; 11 of
its 19 feed plants are based in The Netherlands.

"We always want to grow. If you
look at the Dutch market the strategies of the feed manufacturers do not differ
much," managing director Co de Heus said in an interview in Dutch national
farmers weekly Boerderij
."In the end the execution of the strategy
determines how successful you are. […] And we seem to do this a little bit
better than our competitors," Co de Heus adds.

Many
take-oversTen years ago the growth (by acquisition) strategy was
effectuated by taking over feed manufacturers Brokking and Koudijs Wouda. After
that Sondag Voeders was acquired and this year also Van Eck Veevoeders and now
Bouman have been incorporated. Koudijs Feed in the Netherlands specialises in the export of
concentrates, premixes, pre-starters, veal breading milk, pellet feed for
piglets and other special feeds.

In Denmark the company sells mainly
milk replacers through its subsidiary Bossprodukter.

Eastern Europe important
marketBut not only in the Netherlands De Heus is taking over (family
owned) feed manufacturers, the company has also a strong presence in Poland and
Czech Republic (SKS). In
Russia feed is sold through the dealer network of MKorma.

With 700,000
tonnes Poland is the second largest market for De Heus Koudijs Hima. This volume is supposed to grow to one
million tonnes. Furthermore a joint venture with a feed company in Egypt has
been established, named Koudijs Kapo. In China De Heus has a 15% share in a feed
facility with an annual sale of 1 million tonnes (premixes, concentrates and
complete feed). The company is now exploring opportunities in South
Africa.